Woman Who Kicked Daughter To Death Sentenced To Prison

A woman who kicked her 2-year-old daughter to death last year in Falls Township has been sentenced to serve 12 to 40 years in prison.

Kayla Moore, 24, pleaded no contest to third degree murder in the fatal assault of her daughter, Athena Wolfe. Authorities say Moore lost her temper over her young daughter’s behavior and kicked her repeatedly, inflicting fatal wounds to her head and body. The young girl, who was airlifted to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), succumbed to her injuries and died the following day.

As noted in court records, Moore initially lied to investigators and told them Athena had hit her head on a door after trying to catch a ball. Investigators later learned that Moore was in a fit of rage about her daughter’s tantrums when she assaulted her. Although Athena appeared to be malnourished, her body showed no signs of prior assaults and Moore had no previous criminal record.

First Assistant District Attorney Gregg Shore, who prosecuted the case, said the toddler suffered injuries to her head, back, shoulder, neck, spine and pancreas, some of which could have proven fatal on their own.

Shore said Athena was extremely short and thin for her age and that she had to share the only bed in the apartment with her older sister while her mother slept on the floor. Moore also has an older son living with his father in western Pennsylvania, and had given a fourth child away shortly after its birth.

In a victim-impact statement read in court by Shore, the victim’s great-grandmother urged Bucks County Common Pleas Court Judge Rea B. Boylan to show no mercy.

“I’m sure that if Athena could have, she would have pleaded for mercy from her mother when she was kicking and beating her; but she was too little and defenseless to stop her mother from doing the unthinkable.” The great-grandmother wrote that she could not attend the hearing because she was “haunted” by Athena’s death and could not bear to see Moore again.

Defense attorneys presented a psychological report on Moore that, while not disclosed publicly, indicated that Moore had grown up in “great deprivation” and was “not nurtured in her life,” according to Boylan.

In court Moore described her crimes as “careless” before apologizing to her surviving daughter, who has had to suffer as a result.

“Careless actions are my son leaving his sneakers out in the hallway last night where I almost tripped over them,” said Boylan. “Careless actions are not kicking and battering your child to death.”

In addition to imposing the 12- to 40-year prison sentence, Boylan ordered Moore to undergo mental health treatment in prison.